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Swar Khan
| place_of_birth = Khost | date_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest= | arresting_authority= | date_of_release = 2006-10-11 | place_of_release= Afghanistan | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | citizenship = Afghanistan | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 933 | group = | alias = Swatkhan Bahar | charge = No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Repatriated | csrt_summary = | csrt_transcript= | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Swar Khan (born c. 1970) is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 933. American intelligence analysts estimate Swar Khan was born in 1970, in Khost, Afghanistan. Swar Khan was a security official for the Hamid Karzai government prior to his capture. His boss told reporters that his capture was due to false denunciations from a jealous rival, whose sons worked as interpreters for the Americans, and that he had tried to tell the Americans he should be set free—without success. Combatant Status Review Tribunal s were held in a 3 x 5 meter trailer. The captive sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirrorInside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004 Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed. ]] Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. mirror This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant. Khan chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. detainees ARB|Set_33_2302-2425_Revised.pdf#57}} Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Swar Khan's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 57-68 Allegations The allegations Swar Khan faced during his Tribunal were: Testimony Writ of habeas corpus Swar Khan had a writ of habeas corpus, Swat Khan v. Bush, filed on his behalf in 2005. He was represented by James Wyda and Martin Bahl, Federal Public Defenders in Maryland. Publication of captives' CSR Tribunal documents In September 2007 the Department of Justice published dossiers of unclassified documents arising from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals of 179 captives, prepared in response to their habeas petitions. Swar Khan's documents were withheld. Administrative Review Board hearing Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant". They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat—or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free. Khan chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. Summarized transcript (.pdf), from Swar Khan's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 206 Repatriation On November 26, 2008 the Department of Defense published a list of when captives departed from Guantanamo. According to that list Swar Khan was repatriated on October 11, 2006. McClatchy interview On June 15, 2008 the McClatchy News Service published articles based on interviews with 66 former Guantanamo captives. McClatchy reporters interviewed Swar Khan, who they called "Swatkhan Bahar". mirror mirror mirror mirror mirror mirror mirror Tom Lasseter, the lead McClatchy reporter, wrote that while his Tribunal President ruled that even though he had offered their phone numbers the witnesses he requested were not reasonably available McClatchy reporters "had little trouble" phoning his boss at the Interior Ministry, Mohammed Mustafa. Mustafa confirmed he had been falsely denounced by a rival in the Afghan security services. In his interview Sawat Khan confirmed that he had acknowledged that the allegation that he had been involved with the "Union of Mujahedeen". The McClatchy report paraphrased Sawat Khan's description of the group's activities as: The McClatchy report noted that a very serious allegation he faced during his Tribunal—that he had served as a Taliban intelligence officer—was not mentioned during his annual reviews. Sawat Khan told about being beaten in Bagram, and being hung from the ceiling by his wrists in an isolation cell. Sawat Khan described making two suicide attempts in Guantanamo. Following his repatriation the Governor of his Province offered him another position as a Police officer, but he declined. See also * Bagram torture and prisoner abuse * Guantanamo Bay detention camp suicide attempts References Category:Afghan extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Living people Category:1970 births Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:People from Khost Category:Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees